Youngstown, Ohio has a lot of parallels to Buffalo.  It is also a former steel town whose once booming and densely populated city spread out and has seen residents move outside of the city.   The image and reputation of Youngstown declined since the 70s due to blight and crime.  There seemed to be no plan for growth or survival for the city.  A lack of industry and job opportunities and subsequent struggles fostered a cycle of defeatism and hopelessness.  When children and teenagers absorb the negative morale about living in Youngstown–or Buffalo–it affects them.  If you grow up hearing your city “sucks” you will inevitably internalize some that as part of your identity.  If you don’t believe me, ask yourself why you ask people, “Where are you from?” or “Where did you grow up?” when you meet people and establish relationships. People make judgements about  you based on their, sometimes limited, knowledge of your hometown.  You see their facial expressions change with recognition or disconnection.  I have corrected half a dozen friends and family, “Nope, the Statue of Liberty is on the other side of NY.”  Most people outside of Buffalo have no understanding of Buffalo, except its bleak reputation which includes–snow, poverty, no jobs, 50% dropout rate.

What is it like to be a mayor of such a town–a town that is vulnerable to criticism and wary of people coming in and making undeliverable promises.  We invited Jay Williams, the first African-American mayor (and the youngest) of Youngstown, OH to come and participate in our Great Lakes Building ReUse Conference and share his controversial ideas about right-sizing and regionalism.  How does a mayor “shrink” a city, yet still provide services and opportunities for growth?  Mayor Williams’ program, Youngstown 2010, is a strategy to create collaboration with policy makers from suburbs, towns, villages and the urban core.  The plan also involves targeted demolition and redevelopment in key neighborhoods.   Part of the program offers grants to relocate residents in sparsely populated neighborhoods, which would allow the city to divert the cost for street lighting and trash pickups elsewhere.  Naturally, some lifelong residents don’t want to leave their houses.  What if their houses could be moved to more populated neighborhoods?  Can some combination of this work in Buffalo?

We invited our own Mayor Brown as well.  If the two mayors don’t already know one another, we hope they will talk and exchange ideas with each other and all the conference participants.
It should be a very interesting workshop.  If you would like to register for the conference, please know there are a variety of options and the final deadline is soon.